Vail Ranch readies for 'move' into city

TEMECULA -- In one respect, it's little more than redrawing a
line on a map, but a week from today when Temecula annexes the Vail
Ranch community, that line's new location will translate into 5,500
new Temecula residents, a nearly 10 percent jump in the city's
population.

For the first time in Temecula's 11-year history, the city is
shifting its boundaries to bring in more people. The new city
residents live in a sea of more than 1,600 houses on the city's
southeast end known as Vail Ranch. The community measures roughly
700 acres, includes two schools, a handful of businesses, as well
as a few small parks. City staff estimates for the first few years
it will cost around $1.2 million annually to provide police, fire
and other services for Temecula's newest members.

"We realize this may not be a win fiscally for us, but we feel
this was something that was driven by the citizens who want to
become part of the city," said Deputy City Manager Gary Thornhill,
who spent the last few years wrangling through what was at times a
contentious annexation process. "This is our first annexation in
the city. It wasn't a piece of cake. I'll tell you that."

One ranch alone

Much of the difficulty stemmed from the original proposal to
annex both Vail Ranch and the neighboring community of Redhawk in
1998. After protests from Redhawk residents and a year of working
out a deal with the county and its commission that handles boundary
changes, the city is now able to annex Vail Ranch alone.

George Spiliotis, executive director of the Riverside County
Local Agency Formation Commission, which sets boundaries for cities
and districts, said the new boundary that will go into effect July
1 isn't ideal. It leaves Redhawk, which is still under the
jurisdiction of the county as a suburban "island" nearly surrounded
by the city but still served by the county.

"It would have made more sense for the city to provide services
to both of those communities," Spiliotis said.

But Redhawk residents didn't want to be annexed. Although an
outsider driving on the loop road that circles through the two
neighborhoods would scarcely notice the difference between Vail
Ranch and Redhawk, residents there say the two communities have
distinct differences, and that those differences are part of the
reason Vail Ranch is becoming part of the city and Redhawk is
not.

"Vail Ranch doesn't tax themselves to provide an association,"
said Redhawk resident Ken Johnson, who was perhaps the most vocal
opponent of Redhawk's becoming part of the city. "They park boats
and RVs all over the place. They do all the things that aren't
allowed in a higher class neighborhood."

Greater needs

Johnson said that because Vail Ranch doesn't have a homeowners'
association, it's in more need of city services than Redhawk, a
golf-course community of roughly 2,000 houses that wraps around
Vail Ranch. Annexation is also a better deal for Vail Ranch
residents, who will get a $40 a year drop in their property taxes
and other assessments by becoming part of the city, he said.
Redhawk residents face a $135 a year tax increase if they are
annexed into Temecula.

The discrepancy is due to different county assessments for each
area and the higher cost the city estimates it would take to
landscape and maintain parks in the Redhawk area.

Johnson also said that in the late 1990s some Redhawk residents
held a lot of animosity toward Temecula because of a former mayor's
plans to privatize one of the community's parks. When a vote on
annexing the combined neighborhoods was taken in 1999, 60 percent
of Redhawk residents were against it; 90 percent of Vail Ranch's
residents were for it.

"It was just premature at the time," Johnson said. "Redhawk will
join the city with the passage of a few years."

Thornhill estimates it will more likely be six years before
Redhawk can become part of the city because of a tax-sharing
agreement the county and city ironed out in order to split the two
communities.

Sharing revenues

As part of the deal, the county and city are to share sales tax
revenue from a proposed Wal-Mart shopping center that is expected
to bring in between $600,000 and $800,000 in sales tax revenue
annually. Construction of the shopping center, however, has been
delayed due to a judge's order that developer Price Enterprise
conduct a seismic analysis and reassess the amount of traffic the
center would generate.

Price Enterprise's agreement with the county calls for the
developer to front money for restoration of a ramshackle cluster of
tin-roof buildings known as historic Vail Ranch, which is
considered one of the more historically significant properties in
Riverside County.

The 4.5-acre site is all that remains of a historic cattle ranch
that once reached to Imperial Valley. Among the seven remaining
buildings is the Wolf Store, a trading post built in the 1800s,
along with a general store, post office and hotel.

The restoration is intended to bring the site up to national
historical-registry standards.

The county has promised to repay Price Enterprise $1.9 million
for the restoration using sales tax the Wal-Mart center generates,
but in order to have rights to the sales tax, the county has to
maintain control of Redhawk. Conservatively estimating the sales
tax share at $300,000, Thornhill said, it could take six or seven
years before the county receives enough money to pay back the
loan.

Services will be provided

Temecula Finance Director Genie Roberts said that for now the
city is prepared to provide services to Vail Ranch without the
Wal-Mart tax revenue. The city has already dedicated five police
officers to patrol the community and plans to open a storefront
police office in the Vail Ranch area.

It is also providing a new summer recreation program for
children in Vail Ranch, as well as other city services like street
cleaning. Roberts estimates the revenue generated over the next
fiscal year from the annexation of Vail Ranch will be about
$485,000 less than the cost of providing services.

Vail Ranch resident Bob Ritchie, who went door to door seeking
signatures in favor of the annexation, said becoming a part of the
city will be a boon for the community. He remembers having to
convince some residents that they weren't already part of
Temecula.

"There was a very prevalent misconception that we were already
in the city," Ritchie recalled. "It was surprising to find how many
people said, 'what's annexation? No, we don't want any.'"

He said separating Vail Ranch from Redhawk made the process of
becoming city residents much easier, adding that Vail Ranch
residents tend to be a little more "plain Jane" while Redhawk folks
are a little "more elitist."

Ritchie lists a host of benefits to being within Temecula's
boundaries from the serious, such as better response times from
paramedics and more police protection to the more mundane, like
street sweeping and the ability to take advantage of city-sponsored
recreation programs. He also said the people of Vail Ranch will now
have better representation.

"City Hall will now be 10 minutes down the road, compared to an
hour's drive and a parking nightmare in Riverside," Ritchie said.
"It's an intangible, yes, but it's important, very important. It's
a big deal for a city to jump over 1,600 homes and some 5,000
residents all in one swoop."

Temecula city staff is hosting a "Welcome Vail Ranch" party from
2 to 5 p.m. July 1 on the basketball courts of Vail Ranch Middle
School, 33340 Camino Piedra Rojo.

"We're looking at this as a warm welcome opportunity," said
recreation superintendent Julie Pelletier. "It's been a
long-awaited annexation."

Next Sunday the more than 1,600 households in Vail Ranch will be
officially incorporated into Temecula's city limits. It's the first
annexation in the city's 11-year history, said Deputy City Manager
Gary Thornhill.

To commemorate the event and give Vail Ranch residents a chance
to get to know what Temecula has to offer, each department will
have a booth showcasing what they do. The free event will also have
live entertainment and refreshments. For more information, call the
Community Services Department at 694-6480.